Greenback grapplers gain medals at Junction City

As regular season competition draws to a close, the Greenback Wrestlers are making sufficient steps toward achieving their goals for the year. Every wrestler on the team knows where they stand currently and we will be working on what they need to be doing in order to be standing where they want to be come League, Regionals a...

Comment

By Tate Thompson

PrattTribune - Pratt, KS

By Tate Thompson

Posted Jan. 28, 2013 at 2:26 PM
Updated Jan 28, 2013 at 2:29 PM

By Tate Thompson

Posted Jan. 28, 2013 at 2:26 PM
Updated Jan 28, 2013 at 2:29 PM

Junction City

As regular season competition draws to a close, the Greenback Wrestlers are making sufficient steps toward achieving their goals for the year. Every wrestler on the team knows where they stand currently and we will be working on what they need to be doing in order to be standing where they want to be come League, Regionals and State. The Junction City Invitational featured the following state ranked teams: #’s 2, 5, 6 and 9 in 6A along with the #9 in the state in 3A and 5A. The Greenbacks, with another solid 5th place finish, placed above 3 of those teams and are making strides to finish the season strong in the next several weeks. The ranked tournament teams, in order, included: Junction City, Gardner-Edgerton, Wichita Northwest, Wichita Heights, Shawnee Heights and ACCHS.

106 Trae’ Foreman, jr., 3-0, 1st. Trae’ had another terrific day in spite of a poor seed in the tournament. Trae started the day off with a workmanlike win over the always tough Justin Omunfor of Wichita Northwest by fall. Trae’ followed that win up with a victory over the previously undefeated, Zach Campbell of Topeka West, 9-6. Trae’ found himself in the finals for the 5th week in a row facing a new opponent in the #4 in 5A Andrew Egan of Kapaun. Egan defeated the #2 in 6A, Doug Newcomb of Olathe Northwest to earn his spot in the finals against Trae’. The match was exciting and Trae’ did what it took to finish the day with a 5-3 decision and yet another championship on the year. Trae’ has really proven himself clutch in these situations and is looking forward to League, Regionals and state in a couple of weeks. Trae’ is now 26-3 on the year.

113 Cesar Regalado, jr., 3-1, 3rd. Cesar knew he had a tough day ahead of him with two defending state champions in his bracket, but he took it in stride and approached the tournament as he has every other tournament with a winning attitude. Cesar received a bye and won his 1st matchup handily over Jasper of Topeka High by fall to set up a semifinal match with defending 6A state champion, Michael Lindlar of Wichita Northwest. Cesar wrestled well as Lindlar established a lead and sat on it. Cesar spent all of the 3rd period trying to turn Lindlar, but it was not in the cards today. Cesar lost the very close match 2-5. Cesar went on to defeat his Shawmee Mission NW opponent, Amunatigui, by fall and he won his 3rd place match by a score of 7-5 over TJ Burger of Gardner Edgerton. Cesar was not satisfied with his day, but make no mistake, Cesar will rededicate himself to his goal and we will do everything in our power, as Cesar will do everything in his power to get himself to that goal. Cesar is 20-3 on the year.

Page 2 of 3 - 126 Zack Dipman, sr., 1-2 DNP. Zack started his day with a bye followed by his 1st match of the day with the #4 in 6A, Jake Bazan of Junction City. Jake was a tough matchup right out of the blocks for Zack and he got caught in a position for a good piece of time that took a lot of his energy. Zack lost to Bazan by fall. Zack followed that match with a convincing 16-2 victory over Andrew Miller of Shawnee Heights. Zack’s third match was against the #3 in 6A Greg Jones of Wichita Heights. Zack was warmed up by this time and gave Jones all he wanted and more in a match that ended with Zack almost scoring 2 takedowns in a 15 second span that would have sent the match into overtime, but Zack’s toes just slid out of bounds as the time expired in an exhilarating match with a final score of 4-6.

152 Mitchell Baird, sr., 3-1, 2nd. Mitchell won his 1st match by fall over Jorge Gomez of Topeka High. Mitch followed his 1st round fall up with a fall over Kyle Zarda of Shawnee Mission Northwest. In the semifinal Mitchell met up with the #4 in 6A, Jeryl Denton of Junction City. Mitchell was on top of his game, managing this match well from beginning to end in an impressive major decision win, 16-7 to advance to the final against the #3 in 6A Saul Ortiz of Wichita NW. Ortiz built a lead over Mitch, who chipped away until the final seconds where he came up just short in a very impressive match, losing in a heartbreaker 8-11. Mitchell is now 20-8 on the year.

170 Weston Riner, sr. 3-2, DNP. Weston won by fall over Haskins of Wichita Heights in the 1st round. Weston’s quarterfinal was heartbreaking as he was up by 2 with 12 seconds left and Junction City’s #5 in 6A, Micah Felton took an injury timeout. Weston gave up a locked hands penalty and a reversal to lose in the waning seconds 6-7. Weston continued through the day with a technical fall over Connor Albrecht of Olathe Northwest and an 8-4 decision over Wichita East’s Isiah Hardeman. Weston’s day ended by fall to Shawnee heights Marshal Hall. Weston is looking ready for a solid postseason run. It ought to be fun! Weston is 15-10 on the year.

220 Austin Gates, sr., 2-1, 2nd. Austin began his day with a bye followed by a quarterfinal fall over Teryn Brown of Wichita East. Austin matched up for the 3rd time this year with the # 4 in 6A, Jordan bell of Wichita Northwest. Austin wrestled well again in a convincing 9-3 decision to advance to the final against the # 3 in 6A, Tyson Toelkes of Shawnee Heights, who Austin has now matched up against 3 times this season. Austin lost by fall, finishing his day with much needed 2nd place points for the team. Austin has had a lot of quality wins against ranked opponents this year and continues to be successful week in and week out. Gates is now 23-8 on the season.

Page 3 of 3 - 138 Brendan Pribil, jr., went 1-2 on the day with a fall over Jacob Thrall before losing 2-4 to ACCHS’s Justin Wagner of Topeka West 2-4 and Shawnee Heights Mulligan 4-10.

132 Hudson Swift, so. ,went 0-2 on the day losing to #6 ranked Burrus of Kapaun by fall and in a 0-4 decision to Cooper Self of Topeka High who is 21-7 on the year. Hudson is wrestling well and improving, but he is getting thrown in to top seeds each week.

145 Joshua Ash, so. 0-2, DNP. Joshua bumped up to fill our spot at 145 and, as always, was a tough cookie. The weight advantage was too much for Joshua on the day.

160 Taylor White, jr., 0-2 DNP. Although Taylor had a rough day, he should get redemption in a few weeks in the CKL tournament.